Or maybe the Denver Broncos. They stunned the NFL on Tuesday by firing coach/GM Mike Shanahan, one-time genius who beat Holmgren in the Super Bowl but has just one playoff win since 1999.

The Dallas Cowboys haven't won a playoff game since 1996. Holmgren's old team in his hometown, the 49ers, had a little uptick this season, but this week put the franchise in the hands of a 27-year-old kid whose coach, in a motivational stunt during his first halftime in charge, dropped his trousers.

All in varying states of mess, all with reasons to make Holmgren, to use his phrase, "the king of everything."

Must be tempting. Right now, he is the king of nothing, deferring to his queen after turning in his keys while waiting for the name on his parking spot to disappear.

"Take this for the truth," he said in his final news conference Tuesday that struck the highest notes yet for poignancy and insight of his extended farewell tour. "I am going to listen and try to make an intelligent decision if something presents itself. But I'm under no illusions. I'm just a U.S. history teacher that got lucky.

"I might not have all the opportunities that everyone thinks might be around the corner. If I thought I was going to get one of those jobs where I was king of everything, then no one phones, now you've opened yourself up for this tremendous disappointment."

Right.

Holmgren is 2-for-2 in rescuing fading franchises, 1-for-3 in Super Bowls, 13-11 in the playoffs, 161-111 in the regular season, leads all of North American sports in public relations victories, and nobody is going to call him about NFL employment opportunities?

Please.

The false humility was cute, but if there is an NFL figure at this moment capable of being the K of E, well, Holmgren was born to that manor.

He was king here, once. For four years. It's why he came to Seattle.

So ... why not again?

"I love this organization," he said. "But that chapter is kind of closing."

Really? Or was that just a politically correct answer, knowing that club president Tim Ruskell was standing in the back of the room at the Seahawks' auditorium?

In his final weeks, Holmgren made multiple references to "scratching the itch" to be coach and GM. Even as the career carcass of Shanahan, the NFL's last twin-hat man, was still warm, Holmgren expressed confidence in his ability to manage the feat.

He also talked admiringly of the gig Bill Parcells has in Miami, where he doesn't coach but, as executive vice president of football operations, made all the personnel calls from coach to long snapper, which flipped the Dolphins from 1-15 to 11-5 in one year.

What happens if, after a year enjoying life away from football, Holmgren sees the Seahawks with another 4-12 season?

The conventional wisdom, repeated by Holmgren on Tuesday, was that 2008 was an aberration due to injuries. But disappointing seasons by many veterans went beyond injuries and called into question whether the talent level is adequate for contention.

Fixing all that ails the Seahawks would seem to require more than a season and a new coach and staff.

Presumably, owner Paul Allen would exercise the same patience with Ruskell that he showed with Holmgren when the inevitable down cycle occurs.

Then again, Holmgren lasted just four years as king, forced to give up his GM job after a 7-9 season by then-president Bob Whitsitt. Next year for Ruskell will be his fifth in Seattle.

As this week's coach firings underscored, the won-loss business of the NFL is ruthless, impatient and often foolish. Holmgren stands to benefit from the reckless urgency. Even if he resists temptation this offseason, next offseason inevitably will be as frenzied, and there is no salary cap for kings.

If the frenzy for a fix sweeps into Seattle, it would be a shame for the Seahawks to pass up on a premier football talent who already has a condo in Kirkland. Why let another NFL team take a guy who already has a good working relationship with the head coach and the town?

Far-fetched? Sure. But Holmgren did recall something Tuesday that no reporter brought up.

"In my first press conference, I said we were going to win the Super Bowl," he said. "We didn't, but everything else, I will feel OK about."

Directing the franchise in clearing up that bit of unfinished business might be more alluring than working for Pat Bowlen, Jerry Jones or a 27-year-old.